Sermons on a Stick


I was just about to start finishing out Sunday's sermon on Mark 3 when I thought of another way not to work on it. Hopefully, before the end of the year, my office will be out of my house. Part of the problem I'm already encountering is that I'm not able to work consistently at one computer. Sometimes I use the church notebook, sometimes Midwest Church Planting's PC, sometimes my home computer (a slow Pentium II that I hope Dell can help me replace later this fall!).

How much room does my directory called Sermons take up? 190 meg. Hmmm... that isn't that much. So I went over to Bestbuy. I can buy a key chain that plugs into a USB port and I could have my entire sermon library complete with Powerpoint files in my pocket to be used at any PC I can get my hands on. 64M for $28.50. 128M for $47.50. 256M for $56. 512M for $123. 1.5G for $243. Unreal!

Mark Cuban's on NBA Rules

Somedays I can't find anything that interests me on blogs to read. Today, I can't stop finding interesting things, but I have other stuff to do, and my free morning is not followed by a free afternoon and if I can get my work done today, I could work on the backyard tomorrow (don't tell my wife I even suggested it). So maybe later I can read Cuban's thoughts.

Dinner With Bill Gates

Read about an interns dinner with Bill Gates. I found it pretty interesting. Via Brian Baily.

Update

Crossover Property - We now have a verbal commitment for a loan from a local bank for the full purchase price of the property we have been hoping to buy. I hope we can close by September. Then the work begins!!

Tobias Family - We were blessed this week to have Ben and Sherri Tobias, old friends from Seminary, stay with us a few days this week. Ben was my roommate in Seminary for a year, easily one of the best roommates I have ever had. He and Sherri were married 14 days before Danelle and I. So we all had that in common -- newly married, attending seminary, the ladies moving to an unknown town. We became fast friends and have been ever since. They have been an incredible blessing on our lives.

Daily Dose - Here is a website I have been visiting daily. This guy takes really amazing photos. A daily dose has been a great way to start my mornings.

Emerging Reporter - Rodger Sellers spent the summer visiting the "emerging churches" that I would love to visit. His report on each is here. I've read a few. Wonderful, eyewitness accounts if you have any interest.

Brant Hansen - is writing a book. Advanced copies can be purchased through me. Now he only needs to decide what to write. And while that is kind of funny, I won't be surprised at all if this guy writes a knock-dead drag out book. God poured a little thick on this guy when he was pouring out talent.

Inquiring Minds

Sandi Winnett added a nice feature to her blog. A daily quiz that keeps score and let's you compare. Not everyone gets the same questions, which allows for you to assume you were the smartest but that you just got bad questions. That's good.

Blog to check out

I just got a glimpse of this blog. I want to look it over a bit.

Emerging Church Reporter

This guy visited several postmodern churches over the summer.  I want to see what he found out.

Annual Toner Appreciation
 
A massive treasure lies south of the tracks in small Martinsville, Illinois.  Six foot four and still a force to be reckoned with, Tom Toner stands amidst a house full of treasures.  Himself a diamond, a deeply spiritual man who knows his roots, yet continues to seek the depths, Tom invited us over for some fish and fries.  Tom's wife Marsha, a rare jewel, always makes us feel incredibly welcome, yet her role is far from one step behind Tom.  She is quite capable.  At almost six foot, young Matt has an incredible kindness to him.  I'm not sure I've met a 15 year old with as kind a spirit and yet a most certain strength.  And finally, young Aaron rounds out the lot.  He is smart as a whip and yet refrains from "having to be right."  (Note the "Quotation Marks")
 
Danelle and I remarked about the abundant wealth that resides on Schofield.  It is a rare find.

Worship Moment

Take a look at this Lance Armstrong video. Picture Lance as Jesus. Do you want to ride with Him?

Urban On Ramps

I've heard of this blog, but I just read some of it. Interesting. Sadly, Rudy's 4-year old son has just been diagnosed with leukemia. Yikes! A nightmare. They are in my prayers.

Movies

I've watched three movies in the last week. Very unusual for us.

1. Watched Forrest Gump on tape. Still a great movie.

2. Rented and watched K-PAX with Kevin Spacey. Uhh... Well shot movie. Wonderful to watch, but... Watching Spacey eat a bananna peel and all, that was cool, but... It's as if there wasn't enough mystery in it. Everybody pretty quickly believed he was an alien.

It was the first movie in a long time that we watched straight through and didn't divide up into two nights. But...

3. Master of Disguise with Dana Carvey. My kids have seen the "Turtle, turtle" previews and have thought it looked really funny. Danelle wanted me to preview it over lunch to see if the kids could watch it. There are some parts that aren't perfect for kids, but they aren't going to harm them overly either. The problem with this movie is that it is absolutely terrible. IMDB rates it in the bottom 100 movies of all time! I hate it for Carvey. He is funny and he tried to make a movie that the family could watch together. But it is terrible.

Time to put Gladiator back in.

Update: My five year old is loving Master of Disguise as we speak.

Follow Up Passion of the Christ

George Barna, a Christian pollster, followed up on the effects of the Passion of the Christ movie by Mel Gibson.

Among the most startling outcomes drawn from the research is the apparent absence of a direct evangelistic impact by the movie. Despite marketing campaigns labeling the movie the “greatest evangelistic tool” of our era, less than one-tenth of one percent of those who saw the film stated that they made a profession of faith or accepted Jesus Christ as their savior in reaction to the film’s content.

Equally surprising was the lack of impact on people’s determination to engage in evangelism. Less than one-half of one percent of the audience said they were motivated to be more active in sharing their faith in Christ with others as a result of having seen the movie.

I can't say I was startled. I enjoyed the movie, for the most part (There were a few gruesome scenes that weren't necessary or Biblical.) But people need a heart change, an encounter with the living Christ. It was an important movie, but the "greatest evangelistic tool" ever was pretty over-hyped.

George Barna, the director of the research, commented that many people would probably be surprised that there was not a more lasting and intense impact from the movie. “Immediate reaction to the movie seemed to be quite intense,” he noted, “but people’s memories are short and are easily redirected in a media-saturated, fast-paced culture like ours.

Last Personality Test


Which HP Kid Are You?

Not Another Personality Quiz


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Another Personality test


Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

I don't think so.

Better Girlfriend Wife

I took the Better Girlfriend test. Here is the result.

Your girlfriend score is 82.

Nicely done, nicely done. You like her, your friends like her, your parents like her. You really can'r go wrong. Sounds like you've found a chick who knows when to hold them, knows when to fold them--and that's in reference to your laundry. If you think you can do better, you're probably wrong.

Oh yeah. That's right! Who's the man!

A Better Person

My wife took the Better Person quiz. Here is her questionable result.

Your score as a human being is 92.6.


You are a pleasure to be with and a pleasure to be. Your friends do not envy so much as admire you, and you lead your life with grace, honor, and dignity. This site is humbled to have you take a test on it.

Which brings one to wonder, what are you doing goofing off on the Internet?

My friend Shawna took it too. Her result is questionable as well.

Your score as a human being is 35.55.


Good Lord. You have some severe deficits of people quality. Who do you hang out with? Who do you date? What is your deal? I hope at least your grooming is good.

There is hope for you, of course. Rededicate yourself to the greater good. Plant a tree. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Anything, for the love of Pete.

Self-esteem is good, but without other-esteem it doesn't get you very far.

Any other takers?

Advertising Slogans

This was inspired by the fact that the average tithe in America among born-again Christians is something like 1.8% rather than the Biblical 10%. So while it may seem like a watering down of the Gospel, it may just produce a larger end return than the typical Biblical church. Crossing my fingers, Rubbing my Lucky Rabbit's Foot!

Advertising Slogans

I'm trying to improve our church's image in the community as hopefully we will be in our new facility by August. With the health consciousness of America and the turn off of religion, I thought this might be an effective ad for us.

Myers Briggs Personality Test

I took this test here

Your Type is
ENTP
Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving
Strength of the preferences %
1 89 1 22

ENTP type description by D.Keirsey
ENTP type description by J. Butt and M.M. Heiss


Qualitative analysis of your type formula

You are:

* slightly expressed extrovert
* very expressed intuitive personality
* slightly expressed thinking personality
* slightly expressed perceiving personality

This is how I previously tested as well.

Better Person Quiz

Anybody better than me?

Your score as a human being is 80.6.

You are close to ideal. So close, and yet so far. Amusing, really, to watch someone squirm so close to the vaunted ranks of perfection and still remain so very, very ordinary. It is all one can do to keep one's ingratiating smile from polluting one's perfect face.

Actually, one recommends you take the quiz again and lie a little.

Personality

New Quiz

Wackiness: 18/100
Rationality: 56/100
Constructiveness: 76/100
Leadership: 92/100

You are an SRCL--Sober Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you an Ayn Rand ideal. Taggart? Roark? Galt? You are all of these. You were born to lead. You may not be particularly exciting, but you have a strange charisma--born of intellect and personal drive--that people begin to notice when they have been around you a while. You don't like to compromise, but you recognize when you have to.

You care absolutely nothing what other people think, and this somehow attracts people to you. Treat them well, use them wisely, and ascend to your rightful rank.

Download Sermons of Rob Bell

I've been traveling a bit lately, so I fill my MP3 player Danelle got me for Christmas with downloadable MP3 sermons. I've listened to Mark Driscoll (Careful, he uses words you haven't heard in church before, but don't miss his message), Fran Leeman, and Brian McLaren.

I've heard of this guy, Rob Bell, and I want to give him some listening time.

Short Films

I want to look at www.nooma.com and http://www.jerry.digisle.tv/room.html

Alyssa's Secret Birthday Links

Link

Link

Update: It's no longer a secret.

Might add to my bloglist

Terry Storch, also at Fellowship Church in Dallas.

What did you do today?

"What did you do today?"

"Oh, nothin. No wait. I rode on an elephant."

My wife and I had this conversation today. Can you guess who said what?

UPDATE: All good guesses (NO ONE GUESSED!), but no it was me that rode the elephant along with my three children. The elephant's name was Dumbo. Also, I fed a camel. Finally, I don't need your enthusiasm for me to have enjoyed those moments... but it wouldn't hurt either.

Trainwreck

We stayed a wonderful long-term stay hotel. We had two bedrooms with doors and then a commons area for $110 per night. It cost more than it would have to but it is really comfortable for our family and grandma and us get our own rooms. So cool. It was the Staybridge suites.

Tuesday night, grandma offered to keep the kids. Danelle and I went to the Trainwreck bar and grill for dinner. It was Karaoke night. We had a blast listening to the patrons sing their hearts out. I had never seen Karoke. All but one song was family friendly. That surprised me a bit. Karoke singers are a different breed. And no, we didn't sing, except at our table. But Danelle looked like she had an itch to do it. Maybe next time.

Vacation Highlights

We took three days vacation this week to St Louis. Awesome! My wife, my three kids, and my mom all went.

Monday we did the St Louis zoo. You can't hardly beat it. My youngest son didn't realize how big elephants were. His mouth got droopy when he saw them.

Tuesday we did Six Flags over St Louis. My daughter, who will be 9 next week, won a free ticket for doing something at school. We were skeptical whether the whole family would enjoy six flags. Our boys are 2 and 5 years old. We were wrong!

They all enjoyed the Looney Toons area, highlighted by a little one lap roller coaster that really got them going. Cayden, my boy, went all the way around with his hands in the air! Very cool.

Then we did the log flume and road the Collosus ferris wheel. My two year old, Ethan, got soaked on Thunder River. He didn't like it so much.

Then we split up, and my nine year old girl road the Ninja roller coaster and went upside down four times! While she did that the boys and I went to the alligator show and Cayden held a little alligator. We have the picture to prove it! What brave kids!

Wednesday, we did the Magic House. It was pretty cheap and the kids had a great time.

The weather was perfect. Thanks God for a great vacation trip!

Credit Woes

Link Motley Fools Via Coop

Stupid human tricks
If you're looking for a fall guy for the state of America's finances, better take a gander in the mirror. At the end of last year, U.S. households had $10.4 trillion in outstanding debt, and one out of every 73 filed for bankruptcy. The Commerce Department reports that our personal savings rate is a wafer-thin 1.8%. As a nation, we're borrowing money at a record clip to pay for a lifestyle well beyond our means.

I don't care what the Joneses have parked in their garage. Evidently, a lot of other people do. On average, we carry eight credit cards per person and have a balance of $8,400 in credit card debt. Twenty percent of our cards are maxed out, reports CardWeb.com, which tracks the lending industry's machinations. And just 40% of Americans pay off their accounts in full at the end of the month. The average line of credit is around $3,500. (A decade ago, it was just $1,800.) The average household pays its lender $1,000 a year in finance charges.

It's not just that we're borrowing more money and paying it back more slowly; it's that we're spending money we used to consider off-limits. Home equity loans are more popular than ever as people borrow against their home to feed their spending binge. Today, average homeowners owe nearly 50% of their home's value. Twenty years ago, that figure stood at 30%.